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Thursday, March 29, 2012

Kurt, Cherie and I watch Modern Family every week, so we were pretty excited that Rico and Raini Rodriguez (Rico plays Manny on Mod Fam; his big sis Raini is also an actress) came to see In the Heights in their hometown, College Station. There was a little meet-and-greet after the performance - turns out they're big fans of the show. It was a mutual admiration society!

Friday, March 23, 2012

During tech rehearsal back in October, Kurt and I took turns at the piano, but often we were both there. Our director would call out, "Off of Kat 'n' Kurt" to have whichever of us was playing start a number. After about a day of this, he said, "I feel like I'm saying 'Captain Kirk'." And that is how Captain Kirk became the music department's collective nickname.

A friend from this tour is currently working William Shatner's one-man autobiographical show, Shatner's World which was in Dallas tonight. We got to meet Mr. Shatner briefly before we had to go do our respective shows. He was very gracious, and it was cool to watch him work for a few minutes and wish him happy birthday! Living proof that one does not have to be a diva to have a long, illustrious career.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Nice to be in the same place for a couple weeks. Kurt & Cherie and I went to Chop House for lunch today and enjoyed some spectacular burgers and (yes) truffle parmesan fries. I'm a little under the weather, so didn't join other company members for karaoke tonight, and instead made a hot toddy and geeked out on youtube videos with Kurt for a little while. Four more days in Dallas!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Last night we celebrated St. Paddy's Day with a mixer with the cast and crew of the Million Dollar Quartet tour at a bar downtown. There was dancing and drinks, and there were jalapeno poppers the size of my head (slight faux-Irish exaggeration). Everyone was Irish, even our resident Italian.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

My parents freak out a little about walking on green grass. This is because A) they both grew up in the desert Southwest where anyone who cares for their feet steers clear of the "grass" and B) they lived for several years in Cambridge, England where something horrible and British would befall them if they dared to step on the grass. I thought of them when I saw this sign near the opera house in Dallas.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

A bunch of us went out tonight to a place called Barcadia to hang out with some people from Young Frankenstein, who are also in town and came to our show. Giancarlo and Marcus went down the street to find food, and Cherie and I followed suit. Little did we know what we were getting ourselves into - Oscar Palacios y el Show Extasis. I've seen plenty of drag shows in New York, but never a Texican drag show.

I texted this picture to Kurt back at Barcadia, and he and the rest of the gang showed up soon after and stayed to close down the joint.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

I rarely post anything political.I have friends from all over the political spectrum, and I love and respect them, even when I may not agree with them. Recently, though, after a long hiatus from reading the news, I've been riveted by numerous disturbing stories about women in this country, their rights, and the war being waged on them.

Here are some haiku with links to recent news stories (in case you've been living under a rock and don't know what I'm talking about). Happy International Women's day! Would be lovely to think we could rest on the hard work of women's rights advocates of the past few decades, but it is apparent that that is not the case.

Women's rights - to family planning, to education, to the pursuit of happiness, be it work or unpaid work at home - are not a political issue. They are an issue of civilization. A society that undermines and attacks its women is doomed.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Anyone who knows me knows how much I hate administrivia. I am offended by cleaning, cooking, sleeping, showering, paying bills, making routine phone calls - anything that has to be done repeatedly just to keep life chugging along. My own neurotic problem.

But seriously, why can't my health insurance company automate my monthly payment without a ton of hassle and snail mail? SNAIL MAIL! I ask you. They are the only company I do business with with whom snail mail is the most convenient way to take care of billing. It's an inefficient way of doing business. PLEASE, take my tax dollars and centralize this sh*t, so that the kind man who helped me on the phone can get laid off and be forced to find something more useful and creative to do with his life.

Our bus has wifi, but it isn't usually fast enough to watch videos streaming. I spent a long time yesterday trying, with limited success, to indulge my new addiction to Foyle's War during our bus ride to Macomb, IL. We have a show here tonight, then on to Columbia, MO and Fayetteville, AR!

Monday, March 5, 2012

Yesterday matinee was an interesting beginning! Luckily these type of things happen quite rarely, and our heroic sound people had it fixed quickly enough that we didn't have to stop the show. I cobbled together both the keyboard parts for a few measures til we were fully functional. What a way to wake up!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

I've missed a posting a few days recently, so today, I will catch you up with a haiku each from Kurt, Cherie, and me, and a sonnet for good measure. This is how we entertain ourselves during long bus trips. Missouri overnight tonight, then Friday and Saturday nights, shows in Lincoln, NE!

I spy with my eye

something red and crescent-shaped

it is on the bus

-Cherie

(Yes, we played "I spy" via text-haikus. Incidentally, it was the red handle to the escape hatch at the top of the bus.)